You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

"Of course it's true!"

The buck-toothed recruit said in a serious tone:

"It is said that this Chinese general named Lin Feng is not an ordinary person at all; he knows magic."

Back when we were fighting in Shanghai, one of our Imperial Army's field artillery regiments was ambushed by him.

And guess what happened?

Overnight, dozens of heavy cannons on the position vanished without a trace, leaving not even a wheel track.

What else could this be but magic?

"hiss--"

The surrounding recruits gasped, feeling a chill run down their spines.

"Yes, yes, I've heard about it too."

Another short recruit quickly chimed in, describing it vividly:

"It is said that this Lin Feng has a pointed mouth, long ears, and black wings on his back."

He held a long sword in his hand that could cut through iron like mud, and his swordsmanship was extremely superb.

So, behind his back, we all call him Black Tengu.

In the hearts of these rural devils deeply influenced by traditional Japanese mythology.

How could the impoverished and weak Great Xia army possibly annihilate an elite brigade of the Imperial Army with equipment of equal or even inferior quality?

The only explanation is that the opposing commander must possess some kind of supernatural magic.

"And that's not all."

The buck-toothed recruit got more and more excited as he spoke, his voice trembling:

"I heard it from wounded veterans in the hospital."

Major General Kunisaki Noboru was tricked into the heavily guarded marching tent by this black tengu in the middle of the night, which transformed into a black wind.

He only used one sword.

They silently severed the major general's head.

The 9th Brigade was thus leaderless and was completely annihilated.

"Amaterasu Omikami..."

The recruits were so frightened that they dropped their rice balls on the ground. Their faces were ashen, and they looked at each other, seeing extreme fear in each other's eyes.

"It's said he can also control the wind and rain, and summon heavenly fire to burn our warships..."

The buck-toothed recruits are preparing to continue their training.

Suddenly, a tall, muscular black figure appeared behind them.

"Baka yarou".

A loud shout.

A veteran sergeant with a fierce face strode forward, raised his large foot, clad in heavy suede shoes, and began to kick the group of new recruits repeatedly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Ouch."

"Private Marseille, private Marseille."

Several new recruits were kicked so hard they fell flat on their faces, rolling around in the mud in pain.

"A bunch of useless idiots."

The veteran sergeant pulled out his leather belt and began whipping people indiscriminately, the blows making a loud cracking sound.

"You have completely disgraced the Imperial Japanese Army."

What nonsense about the Black Tengu! That's just a Chinese trick.

Do you still have time to idly chat and spread rumors here?

Go, immediately go to the river and wash all the socks and underwear of the entire squad clean.

No one is allowed to sleep tonight if they're not properly cleaned.

The recruits scrambled to their feet, ignoring the mud and pain on their bodies, and ran towards the icy riverbank while bowing.

The veteran sergeant watched their disheveled figures and snorted coldly.

As he turned his head and looked at the deep, dark night sky to the south.

His rough, large hands, gripping the belt, trembled slightly involuntarily.

Black Tengu...

This battle is probably not going to be easy.

-----

Earlier, on February 14th.

Pengcheng, the headquarters of the Fifth War Zone.

In the spacious operations conference room, on both sides of the long conference table, sat high-ranking generals, some of whom were considered stars.

Commanders from various factions, including the Sichuan Army, the Northwest Army, and the Guangxi Army, gathered together, but none of them looked too happy.

It has been a full seven months since the Japanese invaded Daxia last July.

Most of North China fell to the Japanese, and Shanghai and Nanjing were lost one after another.

Now, the Japanese army, advancing from the north and south, is like a giant iron clamp, tightly gripping Pengcheng in the heart of the Central Plains.

Commander Li, who was presiding over the meeting, stood in the main seat with his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

He slammed a newly delivered telegram heavily on the table.

"Everyone, please take a look."

Commander Li sneered, his tone filled with undisguised sarcasm:

"Our Central Army's direct subordinate, Commander Tang of the 20th Army Corps, has sent us another 'good news'."

It is said that due to limited domestic transportation conditions and muddy roads, his troops are still making a difficult advance towards Pengcheng.

These words immediately caused an uproar in the conference room.

"That son of a bitch, still on his way?!"

Sun Zhen, commander-in-chief of the 22nd Army Group of the Sichuan Army, slammed his fist on the table and began to curse:

"What time is it? The Japanese bayonets are almost pressed against our foreheads."

Are his legs made of gold or silver? Why does he walk like that?!

Beside him, Pang, the commander of the 3rd Army Corps of the Northwest Army, also snorted coldly and said in a sarcastic tone:

"He is a disciple of the emperor, a pillar of the Whampoa Military Academy."

How can our ragtag army compare to them?

"I have an entire army corps, and the Jiangcheng Military and Political Department wants me to reduce it to five regiments! Where can I go to complain?"

In fact, all the generals present knew exactly what was going on.

As an outstanding graduate of the 18th Infantry Class of the Japanese Army Officer School and an instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy, Commander Tang was definitely not a fool; he was quite capable.

Just last August, during the Battle of Nankou in the Chahar, Shanxi, and Suiyuan areas.

He led the 13th Army to fiercely resist the Japanese elite 5th Division and other forces, numbering over 70,000, at Nankou.

Despite being outmatched in equipment and with reinforcements failing to arrive, he gritted his teeth and commanded his troops in a bloody battle for a full 18 days.

More than 2.7 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded, while approximately 1.5 were killed or wounded.

That battle was fought with unwavering resolve and with brutal ferocity, and it certainly showcased the might of the Great Xia army.

But now?

Faced with such a large-scale battle as the Battle of Pengcheng, this commander of the army, who was capable of fighting tough battles, directly played the trick of "obeying orders but not proclamations".

Don't ask, the answer is that my troops are still on their way.

The reason is simple, and also cruel.

Commander Li, the supreme commander of the Fifth War Zone, was Delin Gong, the leader of the Guangxi Clique.

Commander Tang is Jiang Cheng's most trusted confidant.

Everyone knows what that guy in Jiangcheng is thinking.

Using the Japanese as a weapon, we can weaken the strength of these local ragtag armies.

Therefore, Commander Tang naturally had to preserve his strength and procrastinate.

This resulted in Commander Li having very few troops that could be immediately mobilized and were absolutely obedient to his orders, in the face of the Japanese's frantic pincer attack from both the north and south.

"Alright, let's all keep quiet."

Commander Li waved his hand, silencing the crowd's discussion, and his expression became extremely serious:

"If they don't come, does that mean we shouldn't fight this war?"

If Pengcheng falls, the gates to the Central Plains will be wide open, and none of us will have an easy time!

Now, I will announce the battle plan!

The meeting room fell silent instantly, and everyone straightened their backs.

Commander Li picked up his baton and pointed it at the map:

"The north, along the Jinpu Railway, is the main direction of attack for the Japanese North China Area Army."

Commander-in-Chief Sun, your 22nd Army is stationed along the railway line in Tengxian and Zouxian.

Commander Pang, your 3rd Army Corps is stationed at Linyi on the right flank, supporting the 22nd Army Group.

"You two units must hold your ground like nails, and absolutely not allow the Japanese to advance even a single step south."

"Yes," the two replied in unison.

"To the south, the Huai River defense line."

Commander Li shifted his command baton southward:

"Our Guangxi clique troops, along with General Zhang Jinchen's 59th Army, will be responsible for holding the line."

To block the northward reinforcements of the Japanese troops in Central China.

After assigning the infantry positions, Commander Li's tone softened slightly, revealing a hint of confidence:

"Also, I have some good news to share with everyone."

The theater command has just established two new independent artillery regiments!

They were equipped with all new long-range mountain guns with a range of 9km.

These two artillery regiments will provide artillery support to you at any time.

I, Li, guarantee that I will never let my brothers suffer the same fate as before, being helplessly bombarded by the Japanese cannons without being able to fight back.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the generals present lit up, especially Sun Zhen, who subconsciously glanced at Lin Feng sitting in the corner.

As everyone knows, this batch of advanced Bofors mountain guns was purchased by Commander Li at great expense through Lin Feng's channels.

Lin Feng sat in the chair and listened for a long time, only to find that Commander Li had not mentioned his Thirty-Third Army Corps at all.